A new competition has been launched to find Cork's best young entrepreneur with investment of up to €25,000 available for the winner.

Winners in Cork will then proceed to regional and national finals with the aim of finding Ireland's best young entrepreneur.

The Taoiseach and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation launched the new competition last week with a total fund of €2 million available to invest in winning businesses and entrepreneurs in every county in the country.

In Cork, the competition to find Cork's best young entrepreneur will be run by the new local enterprise offices. Winners will be named in three categories - best new idea, best start-up, best new venture for established business - as well as an overall winner who will be Cork's Best Young Entrepreneur.

Mentoring, marketing and other supports will also be available to participating businesses at various stages of the competition.

Open to those aged 30 and under, the first stage will include boot camps and mentoring programmes.

The aim of the initiative is to encourage and support a culture of entrepreneurship among young people in Ireland, and to promote entrepreneurship as a career choice. This is hugely important for job-creation as two thirds of all new jobs are generated by businesses in the first five years of existence.

Young entrepreneurs must submit a preliminary application online or via your local enterprise office by June 30 - see www.localenterprise.ie/

CorkNorthandWest.

The Local Enterprise Office Cork North & West will have a total fund of €50,000 to invest in the three winning businesses, according to criteria including the prospects and investment needs of each business. The overall winner in Cork can receive an investment of up to €25,000.

, and to encourage the establishment and development of new innovative businesses by Ireland's young entrepreneurs.

- more start-ups and a thriving entrepreneurial culture will lead to more jobs being created.